Rain gutters are typically positioned adjacent the roofs of commercial and residential buildings. Such rain gutters collect the rain water that falls upon peaked roofs. That rain water then moves into and through a downspout. A pipe extension at the bottom of the downspout directs that water away from the foundation of the building. This prevents water damage to the foundation of that building.
Conventional rain gutters are generally suitable for this purpose. However, due to their use in an outdoor environment, these rain gutters typically collect and eventually are clogged by leaves, twigs, and other environmental debris. As a result, the homeowner or business owner must frequently scale the roof of the building, and remove that debris from the gutters. The failure to do so will eventually result in clogging of the gutter, the downspout, or both. When such clogging occurs, the rain water on the roof cannot be transported through the gutter and downspout. That rain water instead accumulates within the gutter. Because the rain water in the gutter cannot be transported away from the building through the downspout and pipe extension, it eventually fills the gutter, and overflows along the side walls of the building. As a result, and instead the present invention is provided to solve the problems discussed above and other problems, and to provide advantages and aspects not provided by prior devices of this type. A full discussion of the features and advantages of the present invention is deferred to the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.